Higher Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, surging almost 950 points or 6.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 15,900-point plateau and it's likely to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher and will be dependent on earnings news. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday with gains in every sector, especially energy and technology.

For the day, the index skyrocketed 545.89 points or 3.56 percent to finish at 15,899.87 after trading between 15,412.10 and 15,975.11.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group skyrocketed 7.32 percent , while Alibaba Health Info climbed 3.83 percent, ANTA Sports rallied 4.56 percent, China Life Insurance soared 4.88 percent, China Mengniu Dairy increased 1.31 percent, China Resources Land strengthened 3.84 percent, CITIC advanced 3.72 percent, CNOOC jumped 3.92 percent, Country Garden surged 5.93 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gained 2.60 percent, ENN Energy skyrocketed 9.09 percent, Galaxy Entertainment accelerated 4.68 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 2.68 percent, Henderson Land improved 2.91 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 1.10 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 3.60 percent, JD.com spiked 4.69 percent, Lenovo was up 0.80 percent, Li Ning surged 6.94 percent, Meituan soared 6.03 percent, New World Development rose 2.36 percent, Techtronic Industries gathered 1.02 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rallied 3.63 percent and WuXi Biologics advanced 3.34 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow slipped into the red by the close.

The Dow dropped 99.06 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 37,806.39, while the NASDAQ gained 55.97 points or 0.36 percent to end at 15,481.92 and the S&P 500 perked 3.95 points or 0.08 percent to close at a fresh record high of 4,868.55.

Technology stocks helped lead the way higher in early trading on Wall Street, with shares of Netflix (NFLX) soaring by 10.7 percent after the streaming giant reported better than expected fourth quarter revenues.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, reflecting renewed interest rate concerns amid a rebound by treasury yields. Yields moved lower early in the session but bounced higher following some upbeat U.S. economic data and a disappointing five-year note auction.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday on data showing a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories, while a weak dollar also contributed to the increase in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March added $0.72 or nearly 1 percent at $75.09 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see December data for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In November, imports were up 7.1 percent on month and exports added 7.4 percent for a trade deficit of HKD27.9 billion.